A Traitor's Fate
by Syamy
Summary: One-shot of Parker's death in the infamous 'hidden' elevator scene. Not finished yet.


The room was so very quiet. It was chilling, and the tense atmosphere was obvious. The lone woman seated within tried desperately to force herself to remain calm as she sat there, typing furiously at her keyboard.

As she did so, doubt, not for the first time, swirled through her mind.

He was her boyfriend. Granted, her ex, but for good reason…and the Doctor wasn't a bad man. Narccisist, distant, introverted, even sociopathic in his later days, these things could not be denied, but she could never have thought him as having bad intentions.

Even with his flaws, even now, she still held a certain amount of fondness towards him. No matter what happened at the facility, no matter how much she wished otherwise, her memories of him could not be erased. There had been too much between them for her to ever manage to forget.

But, then again…this wasn't Alex. Not anymore. This was something different; a monster, a killer, a terrorist, a disease. This wasn't the withdrawn, peaceful man with a low tone and a cynical sense of humor that she once knew.

Mercer was dead. Had been for years, and nothing that tried to take his form could ever replace him. Even if they looked so much alike, even if she could tell no difference in the new photos managed to be captured of the loose curls framing his face or his thin lips.

But this creature was not the Doctor, and she could not let her mind fool her into thinking it was. Only a monster, to be feared, and, ultimately… destroyed.

She frowned and leaned towards the computer screen, thoughts moving from the Doctor to the Blackwatch. They thought they were forcing her to give them the information she held of his whereabouts.

The fools. She had always been stubborn, and around these Blackwatch, whom she held no respect for, her obstinacy increased.

They were, after all, the ones responsible for the fine mess that had been made. She did not know the details of what happened, but the results of their actions were clear- one of their own doctors was dead, the man she once loved gone from her, and a violent experiment was terrorizing the nation. She half hoped that whoever was responsible was well aware of, and tormented by, the blood of the slaughtered on their hands.

No, they could not force her. More than likely, they weren't even deluding themselves in the matter- they wouldn't dare use torture, in fear of making another Mercer, and if they simply killed her for her objection, there would be no one else to tell them of ZEUS' whereabouts.

She was doing this for the country, not for them. It was for the best.

Her thoughts were interrupted by what she had been waiting for- a Blackwatch, with news of ZEUS. Finally, something to take her mind off of her thoughts.

"What took them so long?" She muttered under her breath, making sure the entering guard couldn't catch the words.

"We've been compromised. Mercer knows you're on the payroll. We're evacuating."

He stepped quickly, assuredly, towards her, and didn't wait for her to stand on her own. Impatiently, he grabbed her upper arm, shoving her to her feet and directing her towards the door. Her face paled, and she lost the annoyance she'd had.

"Oh, Jesus…" She mumbled under her breath. It seemed now, then, that all of her worries weren't going to disappoint her. At once, she was both terribly nervous and angry at being outwitted yet again.

_He was here._

The thought in itself was terrifying.

There was no hesitation as the outfitted man pushed her into the elevator first, following behind soon. The dirty light bulb partially illuminated his gas mask, giving it an appearance even more eerie than it already was.

It would be fine, she told herself. They were leaving, going down to the first floor. They would leave, be out, and safe.

Oh, what a terrible actress she was, unable even to fool herself. In the elevator, she was in a panic.

The doors were closed. Safe. Nothing could happen to her in here- ZEUS couldn't reach her. Despite the mental reassurances, she still murmured her frustrations aloud in what she hoped was more of an angry tone than a panicked one.

"You know what he can do. Oh, goddamnit. He'll kill me."

The elevator shuddered, main light flickering before finally falling dim once more, leaving only the red emergency lights. It jerked, nearly causing the woman to lose her balance, and again a second time, now propelling her into the wall.

With a muffled screech, the elevator slowed in its path down the shaft, soon coming to a halt.

Eyes flew open again, glancing down at the floor. Her words came out now as a rough whisper.

"Oh my god. Oh my god, he's here."

She completely turned, back to the Blackwatch, and stared at the wall from whence the shuddering had been the source, attempting to bring reason back into her mind. She scanned it again and again, refusing to believe yet that she was safe.

Many times, since she had told the Blackwatch of the virus' location, had she had vivid nightmares of him finding her again. He would be furious –no, furious was an understatement…murderous was closer- about it, in the nightly images, as bent on revenge towards her as he was Gentek.

They were long dreams, and felt so painfully real. Each one went differently –he found her in the apartment in which she had moved to desert her old address, he found her at Gentek…so many things, but each had one in common; she ended up dead.

"He's in the building."

Bewildered. This time, though fear still lingered, she sounded more surprised than anything. She had been overconfident, always figuring despite her doubts that everything would turn out in her favor, that they would find and eliminate the virus.

A silence, and the biomass of the 'Blackwatch' began to shift, turning to a black mist-like substance, threaded with a dark red, before settling on a form.

The lighting painted the now-exposed face in broad strokes and shadows, casting his skin into a dark red color.

The face of the deceased Alex Mercer showed beneath the hood, pale lips twisting into a smile. It was not kind, but amused –by the thoughts of death and such sweet vengeance that ran through the virus's mind.

When he spoke, his voice was a harsh, quiet purr; the Doctor's tone still recognizable beneath the new timbre the creature had taken on.

He touched a hand to her shoulder, bringing a startled gasp from her, and she shut her eyes tightly, as if pretending that nothing was happening. That she was back, in her apartment, simply sitting and minding her own business.

Smile widened, looking manic, paired with the bloodthirsty and vengeful expression on his face.

He leaned closer when he spoke, close enough that lips brushed her ear, barely louder than a whisper.

"…I know."

Since she had entered the elevator, she had been struggling to keep her cool, but now, any semblance of calm was gone now that she heard that damn voice. So many times she had heard it before; loudly, quietly, gently, angrily; whether he was talking to himself in that way he had always had to vent, or speaking of petty, meaningless things with her that she knew he'd had no real interest in then, even if she would have never admitted it. It was so hard to try and scrape up what pride and professionality she could manage, hearing that voice in her ear, and she couldn't block mixed emotions that came.

He did not move, unexpectedly silent. Strange, she thought; always she had fancied that a death at hands might be quicker, as sadism was not his goal. Perhaps she had underestimated that which was still human in him...perhaps he was doing this more from revenge than merely disposing of an enemy that stood in his way.

Perhaps her betrayal to the Blackwatch meant more to him that she would have guessed.

For a moment, she wondered what to do in the situation, if anything. Eventually, she managed to speak, and what detatched coldness she managed surprised her pleasantly.

"Zeus."

It was a simply word, and should have meant nothing, but it had an effect. The grim satisfaction of having managed to rile him was soon gone as she could feel hands elongate and shift into claw, tips of three metal talons digging into her shoulder. She winced and bit down a hiss of pain, but the tensed grip on her shoulder was light enough for her to at least pretend it was possible to ignore.


End file.
